Catch.



A. E. WALLBR.

GATOH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY9,1909.

- Patented May 30, 1911.

r v, 0 E M WM WW 0 N U M enrrnn snares PATENT @FFT ANTHONY E. WALLER, OFIPAWTU'GKET, RHODE ISLAND.

CATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. July 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY E. l/VALLER, a citizen of the United States,residing atthe city of Pawtucket, in the county of Providence and Stateof Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCatches, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to a catch member for pins, brooches andanalogous articles, and has for its object to provide a catch, ofparticularly simple and inexpensive as well as effective construction,that will automatically lock the free end of the securing pintongue, thesame being adapted to be easily and readily unfastened when it isdesired to remove the pin or brooch.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective View illustratinga pin or brooch with my improved catch member attached thereto. Fig. 2is a greatly enlarged perspective view of the catch member showing oneof the bearing arms broken away to better illustrate the application ofone form of spring to the retaining lever. Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofthe catch showing the retaining lever pivoted at the upper end of thebearing arms and the point of the pin tongue in position in said catch.Fig. 41 is an end elevation of the catch member with one of the bearingarms removed showing a simple and efiective arrangement of spring fornormally holding the retaining lever in its closed position. Fig. 5 is adetail of the lever with the spring attached thereto showing one end ofthe spring as being riveted through the lever handle. Fig. 6- isamodification illustrating the retaining lever as being weighted at itsouter end so as to normally hang in its closed position by gravity.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the body, 2 the joint, and 3 thepin-tongue of the pin or brooch, which may be of any convenient ordesired construction. Fixed to the body 1 by solder, rivets or in otherconvenient means is the U-shaped frame 4 of the catch member. This frameis formed with a base portion 5 and two upwardly extending side members6 and 7 to form a recess between them to receive the pin-tongue,

member 6 being provided with an inwardly projecting protuberance 9 toreceive the end of the retaining lever as hereinafter described, theouter end of this arm is curved back as at 10 to facilitate the enteringof the pin-tongue 3 into the catch. The opposite member 7 is slotted orsplit and forked as at 8, see Fig. 8, forming outwardly projectingbearing arms, in the outer end of which is mounted the retaining lever11 on the pivot pin 12. The inner end 13 of this lever inclines towardthe bottom of the recess of the frame and is adapted to engage theunderside of the said protuberance 9 against which it is pressed by theoperating spring to form a stop for this end when the same is inposition to close the mouth of the catch member. The opposite end ofthis retaining lever extends out beyond the pivoting point and forms ahandle 14 which is adapted to be engaged by the thumb or finger andpressed upward forcing the retaining end 13 downward toward the bottomof the recess to open the mouth of the catch member and release thepin-tongue therefrom. This retaining lever is normally held in itsclosed position by a spring 15 of any desired con struction, one form ofwhich is illustrated in Fig. 2 in which the lower end 16 of this springengages the inner side of the yoke, the same then extends out, takes asingle turn around the pivot pin, and the opposite end 17 then turns atright angles and engages a notch or shoulder near the outer end of theretaining lever holding the opposite end of said lever normally in itsclosed position.

The simple and inexpensive form of spring 18, illustrated in Figs. 4 and5, is found to be very effective in its operation on this catch member.This spring consists of a slightly curved piece of spring wire one endof which may be swaged, riveted, or otherwise secured at 19 to theoperating or outwardly extending end of the retaining lever. Theopposite end 19 of this spring extends along beneath the closing end ofthe lever and rests against the base portion 5 of the catch member, asillustrated in Fig. 4.

Another feature of my invention is that the outer end of the retaininglever may be constructed with a comparatively heavy or weighted end 20,see Fig. 6, if desired, whereby the same'is adapted to be normally heldin its closed position by gravity and without the employment of a springfor this purpose.

The operation of my improved catch is as follows: The pin-tongue beingconnected in the usual way to the joint member 2 is advanced toward theretaining lever. If this joint should be slightly loose and allow saidtongue to spring off toward the back side of the catch, it will strikethe sloping portion 10 of the entrance member 6 and be guided down ontothe end 13 of the retaining lever, when by a slight pressure on thepin-tongue said lever will recede and allow the pin-tongue to enter therecess when said lever will immediately and automatically return to itsclosed position and effectually lock this end of the pin-tongue therein.When it is desired to release the pin-tongue, it is only necessary toengage the outer end 14 of this lever by the thumb or finger pressingthe same up into the dotted position, illustrated in Fig. 2, when theclosing end will swing back into the recess and release the pin-tongue.

The device is extremely simple, practical and inexpensive inconstruction and effective in its operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent, is:

1. A pin-tongue catch member comprising a frame having two arms spacedto provide a recess between them, one of said arms having a protuberancefacing the other arm, a lever pivotally connected to the other arm andcrossing said recess and having an extension ou twardly from its pivotalpoint, e

and means for normally holding said lever with its tip against the underface of said protuberance, the recess between the arms being of a sizeto receive the pin-tongue 2. A pin-tongue catch member comprising aframe having two arms spaced to provide a recess between them, one ofsaid arms being forked, the other arm being solid and having aprotuberance facing the forked arm, a lever pivotally mounted in theforked arm and inclined toward the bottom of the recess and having afinger piece projecting outwardly from its pivotal pointyand a springconnected to said lever and extending through the space in the forkedarm under the lever to normally hold said lever with its tip against theunder face of said protuberance, the recess between the arms being of asize to receive the pin-tongue under the lower edge of said lever, andthe face of the protuberance being rounded to present no obstruction tomovement of the pin-tongue past it in either direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANTHONY E. WALLER. Witnesses HOWARD E. BARLow, E. I. OGDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

